Searching Far and Wide
by Swigityswooty
Summary: Emma teaches Bronwyn to play Pokemon Go. When Bronwyn bumps into a fellow trainer, the two strike up a bond.


Never once in all her years in the loop did Bronwyn think that life in the present day could be boring. But as she lay on the couch one summer afternoon mindlessly flipping through the channels she realized she was sorely mistaken.

Emma walked in and glanced over at her. "Wow, you look bored," she said. Bronwyn nodded her head in confirmation. "Jacob showed me this fun game called Pokémon Go. Want to play?"

Bronwyn leaped off the couch at the promise of something to do. "Yes, please!"

"Great, because I already downloaded the app on your phone and made an account for you this morning. You should really get a passcode."

The strongarm decided to ignore that rather concerning comment and opened the app. A blurb popped up on her screen. _Hello there, I am Professor Willow_ , it said. _Did you know that this world is inhabited by creatures known as Pokémon?_

"Pokeymun?" Bronwyn asked.

"Just go with it."

 _Some run across the plains, others fly through the skies, some live in the mountains, or in the forests, or near water… I have spent my whole life studying them and their regional distribution. Will you help me with my research?_

"If he's spent his whole life studying them, why does he need our help?"

Emma sighed. "It's a game, it doesn't have to make sense."

 _That's great! I was just looking for someone like you to help! You'll need to find and collect Pokémon from everywhere! Now choose your style for your adventure._

Bronwyn tapped on the girl and examined the default features. "I think that looks good enough," she said and tapped the check mark without customizing.

 _There's a Pokémon nearby! Here are some Poké balls. These will help you catch one!_

"You have to tap on one of the Pokémon to catch it. You can only choose one, though." Emma explained.

Bronwyn looked at the three Pokémon on the front of her and was immediately drawn to the green one with a bulb on its back. She tapped that one. On her screen, the Bulbasaur appeared on the living room floor, lunging towards her.

"Ok, now you have to throw your-" Emma was cut off as Bronwyn launched her phone in the direction of the Bulbasaur with tremendous force, leaving a dent in the hardwood floor.

"Like that?" Bronwyn asked.

"Um, not quite," Emma said, staring at the crackless phone in shock. _Thank goodness for lifeproof cases_ , she thought to herself. "What you want to do is take your index finger and swipe the ball towards the Pokémon."

"Oh, ok." Bronwyn picked her phone up and tossed the Pokéball in an arc. It bounced off its target before opening and encapsulating the Bulbasaur.

"Perfect, just like that!" Emma cheared. The ball titled in a circle, flashing red, once, twice, then a third time before the words _Gotcha!_ and _Bulbasaur was caught!_ popped up.

Bronwyn tapped OK and looked at the Bulbasaur's information. "What does CP mean?" she asked.

"It stands for combat power. The higher CP, the better."

Bronwyn nodded in understanding and exited out of Bulbasaur window. A blurb from Professor Willow popped up. _Congratulations! You've caught your first Pokémon!_ It read. _You are such a talented Pokémon trainer. What should I call you?_

"You have to enter a nickname." Emma explained.

She typed _Bronwyn_ , unsure of what else to call herself. _That name is unavailable._

"What about Bronwyn72?" she suggested.

Bronwyn gave her a puzzled look. "Why 72?"

Emma shrugged. "Just a random number, I suppose."

Bronwyn entered the suggested name. Luckily, it was not taken, and according to Professor Willow, it was a cool nickname.

"Alright, now we can go to Pokéstops around the neighborhood."

Three hours later, Bronwyn hit level four and had caught five Pidgeys, five Weedles, two Rattatas, an Eevee, a Magikarp and an Exeggcute.

"That's enough for one day," Emma said, exhausted. "We should start heading back."

Bronwyn frowned, staring at her egg's progress. More than eight kilometers from hatching. "You can, I'm going to go a bit further. I want to make sure this egg hatches on the way back."

"Ok, have fun."

Emma's footsteps had long since faded into the distance when Bronwyn felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She stopped, pulled out her phone and tapped on the Zubat that had appeared. The arrows on her screen pointed to the left and she whirled that way, trying to get the Pokémon in her sights. Then she saw it. _This will be easy_ she thought as she lobbed a Pokéball at the Zubat. Missed. She sent another one flying at it, aiming a little higher this time. It flew to the right. She tilted her phone on its side in hopes of getting a better angle and swiped horizontally. This time the ball hit its target dead center and the word _Great!_ appeared on her screen. The Pokéball rolled once. Twice.

To the right of her, Bronwyn heard the sound of someone tripping and turned in time to see a pudgy-faced girl falling towards her. Without thinking, she caught the girl effortlessly in one arm.

"Are you alright?" Bronwyn asked, holding the girl in a dip.

The girl looked at Bronwyn's toned, sweaty arms and blushed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks," she said. She turned her attention to Bronwyn's phone. "Oh, you're playing Pokémon Go? I was actually trying to catch that Zubat when I bumped into you!"

Bronwyn laughed. "You should be more careful," she said, then proceeded to pick her up from the dip and plant her on the ground upright. "I'm Bronwyn, by the way."

"I'm Sonya," she said. "Wow, you're strong."

Bronwyn mentally cursed herself for being so careless around normals. "Uh, yeah, I work out a lot."

"Oh, cool," she said. "Now let's see if I can't catch that Zubat."

Bronwyn watched the girl with interest. Her chocolate colored eyes flitted down and up, tracking the Pokéball's movement. Rose, pouty lips muttered the word "missed" in irritation. It wasn't until Sonya glanced over at her that she realized she had been staring. Both girls looked away awkwardly.

"Ok, this time that Zubat is going in the ball," she said. A few moments passed before the girl shouted "Gotcha!"

There was an uncomfortable silence, neither one quite sure what to say.

"Hey," said Sonya, breaking the silence. "Since we both play, want to train together?"

"Sure, sounds great!"

The two began making their way towards the nearest Pokéstop, Sally Anne Storsberg Pottery.

"So what team are you on?"

"Team?" Bronwyn asked.

Sonya looked over at Bronwyn's screen. "Oh, you're not level five yet. When you get to level five and come across a gym, you can choose from Team Valor, Mystic, or Instinct. I'm on Team Instinct."

"Huh… maybe I'll join Instinct."

"Um… Yellow is pretty cool and all, but there aren't a lot of members. We're kind of the underdogs."

Bronwyn paused for a bit, thinking. "Well, that could certainly be fun."

The other girl laughed. "I suppose it is sometimes. Mystic and Valor are always fighting over gyms, so sometimes I'll slip in and claim it before they can."

"That sounds like cheating."

Sonya shrugged. "Not really. I mean it's an asshole move, but it's not cheating."

Bronwyn looked down at her phone and saw they had reached the Pokéstop. She gave the icon a spin. 2 Pokéballs and an egg.

"Where to now?" Bronwyn asked.

"Uh, it's getting kind of late. We should probably head home."

She eyed the time. 8:28. "Wow, you're right. Where'd all that time go?"

"I guess we were too busy having fun," she said, flashing a nervous smile. "Mind if I put my number into your phone?"

"No, not at all," Bronwyn said quickly.

Sonya punched the digits in. "Done," she said, handing the phone back.

"Great. See you around?"

"Yeah, we should definitely do this again sometime."

With that, the pair departed in opposite directions.

Bronwyn had practically floated home to the Portman residence. _Is this what Olive feels like?_ she wondered. She hadn't even cared that her egg didn't hatch on the way back.

"There you are," Emma greeted at the door. "You had The Bird worried sick. Hey, what are you smiling about?"

Bronwyn's cheeks reddened. "I guess I just had a fun time playing Pokeymun."


End file.
